


Turn The Page

by ASchwartz33



Category: Naruto
Genre: Adoption, Found Family, Hatake Kakashi Needs a Hug, Hiruzen realizes he is a jackass, Jiraiya adopts Kakashi, Jiraiya is an embarrassing menace, Kid Hatake Kakashi, M/M, Uchiha Obito Lives, awkward teens, secret santa gift
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28168371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ASchwartz33/pseuds/ASchwartz33
Summary: A gift for @AdolescentLycan for The Flying Thunder God's secret Santa exchange on discord!Jiraiya finds out that Kakashi has been left alone, and intervenes to change the course of Kakashi's life forever.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Jiraiya, Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Obito
Comments: 18
Kudos: 311





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [adolescentlycan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/adolescentlycan/gifts).



> For Lycan, I hope you like it! This prompt ran away with my thoughts, and I wanted to make it into a multi-chaptered thing. 
> 
> This story is rated T for future canonical traumatic events, and that is all. Nothing too bad, I swear! 😁

It started when Kakashi was five. 

_ The loneliness.  _

His father, stricken with grief, chose to end his own life, and Kakashi knew he wouldn't ever end up like that.  _ Couldn't  _ end up like that.

_ A disgrace. An embarrassment.  _

_ A failure.  _

He trained hard, graduated from the academy early, and made chunin at six. 

The loneliness always ate at him, but he knew it wouldn't ever go away. Kakashi was rapidly pushing away everyone that ever attempted to speak to him in school. 

Gai was ever determined, still following him after school and trying to challenge him. Rin, Asuma, and Genma seemed to accept that he didn't want to speak with anyone. 

Obito… seemed hurt, and Kakashi tried to ignore the stabbing feeling in his chest when the older boy's eyes watered as he sprinted away. 

Kakashi returned to his empty house, made food for himself, and tried to ignore the empty half of the table, or the bit of floor space in the living room that haunted the back of his mind at all hours of the day. The stain would never go away, no matter how many times he tried to scrub it with too small hands, or no matter how long steely gray eyes avoided looking at it. 

~

Kakashi was almost seven when someone knocked on the door for the first time. No one had been inside since Sakumo died. Not since a team of Anbu sealed his father's body away in a scroll and took Kakashi's tearful testimony. 

Dark eyes met his as he looked up to an older man whose bright white mane eerily reminded him of his father. 

"Kakashi? It's been a while." The man started, rubbing his hand behind his neck in a blatant show of his discomfort. 

Immediately, Kakashi wondered about the man. He was clearly a ninja, but was displaying his emotions carelessly. "How may I help you?" 

"I… heard what happened. I'm sorry it took so long for me to get here, and I just… well. Do you even remember me? My name is Jiraiya." 

_ Jiraiya.  _ The name tickled at his memory, but it was apparently from a time too far back for him to really remember. "I'm not sure. Is there something I can help you with?" Kakashi asked again, trying not to let his impatience show with someone who was probably his superior. 

Jiraiya watched him for a moment, seemingly lost in thought before he shook himself. "I was hoping to speak with your guardian." 

"I don't have a guardian." Kakashi answered emotionlessly. He had been a chunin for nearly seven months… why would he even  _ need  _ a guardian?

Jiraiya seemed confused for a minute, his white brows furrowed as he stared down at Kakashi. "Kid, how old are you?" 

Kakashi frowned beneath his mask. He already had to deal with constantly being underestimated when he was sent out with adults on missions, must it happen in the doorway of his _own_ _home?_

"I'll be seven in three months." Kakashi answered callously, starting to close the door. "If that's all you needed, there is cleaning that needs to be done." 

The door was nearly shut when Jiraiya stopped it with one large hand, smiling awkwardly as he pulled it open again. 

"Ah…  _ actually _ , I was coming to get you for a mission briefing from the Hokage. It seems we will be going together." 

~

Jiraiya didn't really know  _ what  _ to think. The young boy grumpily walking through the village with him was  _ not  _ the same as the one he had met nearly four years ago. 

While it was true that kids changed over time… Kakashi  _ clearly  _ had some bigger problems. 

Like  _ why the hell was he living  _ **_alone_ ** _ at 6 years old?  _

Jiraiya tried not to let his immense anger show on his face. Kakashi may not have been paying him much attention, but the Sannin had no doubts that he would still notice. 

It just wasn't right. Sakumo had done  _ so much  _ for the village, and to just…  _ leave his kid to defend for himself?  _ Jiraiya's jaw had nearly dropped when Kakashi had gone inside to grab his weapons pouch, and his eyes had spotted the chunin vest hanging on the wall that was clearly too small to belong to anyone else. 

_ This six year old had taken the chunin exams.  _

While Jiraiya didn't doubt his skill, the boy should have been allowed to remain a child for a bit longer.  _ A few years _ , at least. 

Hiruzen-sensei would definitely be hearing his thoughts on this. 

In fact, Tsunade might have more than a few things to say as well… perhaps he would have a talk with her later on.

Jiraiya looked to the silent figure trudging along beside him. Kakashi had wanted to take to the rooftops, something that only Anbu chose to do for everything, but Jiraiya had  _ barely  _ managed to talk him into simply walking with him. 

At least the kid hadn't seen through his lie about the mission. He had genuinely wanted to pay his respects and head out for his  _ research _ , but he was just so  _ blindsided  _ by the idea that this kid was stuck by himself. 

Sakumo deserved better than that.  _ Kakashi  _ deserved better than that. 

They walked through Hokage tower quickly, Kakashi following along like an adorably angry little shadow. Honestly, despite the cold attitude Jiraiya really liked the kid. 

They reached his sensei's office, and Jiraiya turned to his new companion. "Can you wait out here a minute or two? I need to speak to my sensei alone." 

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, crossing his tiny arms with a huff and looking away. Jiraiya didn't even bother fighting the smile off of his face.  _ This was gonna be fun. _

Jiraiya entered the office with all of his usual gusto, smiling for effect and crowing his greetings at his former teacher… until the doors were securely closed. Hiruzen noticed the change immediately, the smile wiped from his face just as quickly as Jiraiya's fake one was. 

"What can I do for you? I thought you were already setting out again?" The elderly man asked quietly. 

Despite the fact that Kakashi was out of the room, Jiraiya kept his voice down as well when he answered. "I'm taking Kakashi with me. That is not negotiable." 

Hiruzen's brows furrowed, one of his hands digging through his cloak for his pipe. "Is that so? And why would you do such a thing?" 

"I can't  _ believe  _ you've allowed him to stay in that house by himself!" Jiraiya hissed through clenched teeth. "Sakumo did  _ everything  _ for you. How could you allow his poor kid to just be  _ left  _ like that?" 

Hiruzen didn't answer for a moment, lighting his pipe and taking a deep draw from it. 

"I didn't just  _ leave him _ . He receives funds each month from his inheritance, and I allowed him to exit the academy early when he asked." 

Jiraiya's jaw dropped. "You  _ really  _ think that's enough?  _ That kid _ has been through  _ hell _ . I could tell that just from  _ looking  _ at him. Have you even spoken to him? He is going to turn into a little  _ robot!"  _

Jiraiya felt himself spiral a bit out of control, but made no attempt to reel himself in. "He is an  _ orphan!  _ Just because you want to turn him into your own personal  _ soldier  _ doesn't mean he doesn't  _ need  _ anything! He needs  _ human connection,  _ Hiruzen! He needs someone to show him that he wasn't just  _ abandoned _ , that people  _ fucking care about him!  _ Didn't Lord Second teach you any better than  _ that _ ?!"

Jiraiya was yelling, and undoubtedly Kakashi and the rest of the tower could hear him from the hall, but somehow he couldn't be bothered by it. Hiruzen clearly needed to hear this, judging by the shocked look on his face. 

Still, the man was Hokage, so Jiraiya attempted to at least calm down enough to stop yelling. His hands were shaking, but he knew what needed to be done. "I'm taking Kakashi with me, and when we come back, I'm having him move in with me. He will go on missions after  _ I  _ approve them. He will get a sensei that  _ I  _ choose. That is it. I'm not going to argue this, Hiruzen, so  _ please  _ don't try to make me." 

The Hokage breathed a bit of smoke, and actually managed to look a bit ashamed of himself. "Consider it done, Jiraiya. I am sorry that you have had to yell some sense at an old fool like me. If you intend to stay in the village after this, perhaps you would help me straighten out some internal matters? It seems that I may be losing my touch, after all." 

Even after all the yelling, Jiraiya found the corners of his lips tilting up fondly. "Of course." 

When Jiraiya walked back through the heavy wooden doors, he was certain that the silver-haired boy had heard more than he intended. Kakashi was watching him cautiously, his feelings guarded, though Jiraiya got the faint impression of a skittish dog from him. 

Jiraiya reached out and grabbed Kakashi's tiny hand, simply holding it and pulling the boy along. "Come on, kid. I'll brief you along the way." 

Jiraiya could admit that it felt like a small victory when it took nearly a full minute for Kakashi to remember himself and yank his hand away with the most adorable little glare. 

~

Kakashi was nearly seven when the loneliness started to fade away. Jiraiya had shown up out of the blue, stolen him away to go on some incredibly  _ unprofessional _ mission, and had immediately started telling stories of his father. 

Having his hair ruffled was something he had been unprepared for. The shoulder patting and the hugs were another thing to add to that list. The first time Jiraiya referred to him as a  _ cute kid _ , Kakashi had baulked and ran away from the sleazy inn they were staying at. 

It became easier after two months of traveling together. Kakashi didn't dodge away from the easy recognition and praise he received from doing what amounted to nearly nothing. He accepted Jiraiya's  _ insane  _ style of teaching, and attempted to learn what he could from the man that was surprisingly skilled, even though he followed barely any of the rules for being a ninja.

Still, the young boy had a hard time accepting that their mission was almost over. Somehow, the last couple months had ended up being a lot of fun. (Watching Jiraiya get slapped by more than a few women had certainly helped.) 

Aside from that, it had been the most time he had spent away from his home in his entire life. Two months without thinking of the small patch of wood in his house that his feet would never step on again. Two months without scrubbing everything clean to an obsessive degree. 

_ Two months without being  _ **_alone._ **

Perhaps it was a bit childish, but Kakashi found himself dreading the incoming gates to Konoha. Each step they took was another step closer to his lonely life. A life where he was bound and determined to live by the rules, regardless of how many times Jiraiya had convinced him to break them in their travels. 

He couldn't continue that on his own. He just  _ couldn't. _

Perhaps Jiraiya would need a companion for his  _ next  _ "research journey". 

The duo entered the tower together for the second time, and dread flowed freely through Kakashi's veins. Jiraiya had been a warm presence, reassuring and wise in a way no one had been since his father had passed. It was as if there was a large black cloud looming over him, pushing adults away from him even before he had a chance to start doing so himself. 

It was easy to identify what it was that told everyone around him that he was cursed.  _ His father's legacy.  _ A suicide that dwarfed any achievements he may have had in his entire life. Kakashi had been marked by his father's disgrace, and he felt it clearly as all eyes followed them through the tower. 

Kakashi kept his eyes forward, marching faithfully towards his Hokage. Despite all of Jiraiya's pretty words about his father's apparent "bravery" when it came to disobedience, Kakashi was a good ninja. He was going to follow the rules, and avoid the disgrace his father had suffered. 

They entered the main office without knocking, despite Kakashi's voiced protests on the matter. Jiraiya just laughed and pushed on through, smiling down at him in that weird way that spoke of a fondness he couldn't possibly have for someone like  _ Kakashi _ . 

"Jiraiya." The Hokage greeted his former student. "I had heard you two were nearing the gates. I take it your journey went well?"

Jiraiya nodded, standing at ease while Kakashi dutifully stood at attention. 

"And you, Kakashi? How was the trip?" 

Kakashi frowned under his mask. He was not the one in charge of this "mission", and it seemed a bit weird to have his opinion asked on the matter. "I… the mission went well, Sir." 

Jiraiya's booming laughter filled the hall, a warm hand patting him a bit too roughly on the back. "So serious, Kakashi. Lighten up, will ya? We had a good time, sensei."

"Good." Hiruzen replied with a slight chuckle. "And I suppose you haven't changed your mind at all?" 

Jiraiya went quiet, looking down at him with furrowed brows, though Kakashi tried his best to keep his eyes straight ahead. "No. I haven't." Jiraiya announced firmly. "I would like to take on the position of legal guardian to Kakashi Hatake." 

Kakashi's eyes shot wide, his head whipping to the side to meet Jiraiya's gaze. "Huh?!" 

Hiruzen chuckled, and Kakashi's head zipped back around to face his leader. Guardian.  _ Kakashi's  _ guardian. Why would this man do such a thing? Was Kakashi not doing a good enough job on his own? Had he already failed in something so basic as  _ taking care of himself? _

"Kid, calm down. You didn't do anything wrong." Jiraiya announced, his arm reaching out to drag Kakashi into his side. Despite the fact that they were in front of the Hokage, Kakashi allowed himself to be pulled, folding into the half embrace like a touch-starved puppy. 

"I just think it would do you some good to have someone around. Someone you can rely on, okay? Being alone all the time isn't good for  _ anyone _ … especially someone who still has a lot of growing to do." Jiraiya explained softly. 

Kakashi nodded absently, his mind still reeling and his small body shaking from the shock of such a proclamation. 

"I had some papers drawn up after you left. I had a feeling you wouldn't back down. I will need signatures from both of you, since technically Kakashi is his own guardian currently."

Kakashi hardly noticed his surroundings as Jiraiya left his side to approach the desk. His mind was flashing through images of his house, of his day to day activities… of his current life. His  _ lonely  _ life. 

Signing that paper would give Jiraiya control over his life, his assets, and his money. Kakashi knew that. He understood the concept. 

But… it was more than that. Kakashi approached the desk in a daze when he was called. Jiraiya was in the middle of some speech, trying to tell him he didn't  _ have  _ to sign it if he didn't want to. Kakashi could hardly listen. With one shaking hand, Kakashi took the pen and scribbled his name in his familiar messy scrawl across the designated line. 

Kakashi signed away his old lonely life, and felt relief hit his bones harder than any kick ever could. A tremendous weight lifted off of his tiny shoulders, allowing him to finally breathe fresh air for what felt like the first time since his father died. 

It took several minutes for Kakashi to realize the adults had gone silent. He looked towards his Hokage first, who simply nodded at him. When he turned to meet Jiraiya's gaze, the older man was smiling brightly at him. 

"Well kid, let's go home. We have some things to pick up before we get your new room squared away." 

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, the motion foreign since his father had passed, and followed his new guardian out of the tower without a fuss, stepping into his new life with something new filling up his veins… 

Something that felt an awful lot like  _ happiness.  _


	2. Chapter 2

Jiraiya stretched as he finished carefully putting together the small bento box on his kitchen counter. He had woken up early for this, simply because he was determined to give Kakashi the life he had deserved all along.

That included getting up early sometimes to prepare lunch for the growing boy. 

Kakashi had grown like a weed, both mentally and physically. Jiraiya often found himself thinking back to the moments after Kakashi had first entered this house. The stubborn little boy had turned shy in an instant, unsure of his place or what was expected of him. 

Kakashi still had his moments. Trust didn't come easily to the kid, even after four years of living with another human being. Still, Kakashi made an obvious effort, and it was certainly paying off. 

Kakashi bounded out of the bathroom, mask bunched up around his neck and his silver hair still damp from his shower. Try as he might, Jiraiya couldn't get him to stop wearing the damn thing outside. At least he had stopped wearing it around the house. 

"Is that for me?" Kakashi asked, pointing to the small lunch waiting in front of him. 

Jiraiya chuckled. "Of course it is! Can't have you starving to death on your first day with a real team, can I?" 

Kakashi scowled. "I'm hardly going to be able to work up an appetite while running  _ D-rank missions." _

Jiraiya sighed. "We've been over this. You graduated early, but your teammates didn't. You need to give them time to catch up to you."

Kakashi's shoulders sagged a bit in defeat, but he picked up the lunch anyway. "I know. It's just a bit ridiculous to have a  _ chunin _ looking for  _ lost cats." _

Jiraiya tried not to laugh at the young boy's pout as he made his way out the door. "Hey! Where are your manners?" He called out, watching as Kakashi peeked his head back in the front door. 

"Thanks for the lunch!" The boy answered, before sprinting down the street without so much as a goodbye. 

Jiraiya grinned to himself, setting about the kitchen to make his own lunch for his day in the tower.  _ "Little shit." _

~

Kakashi made it to the assigned clearing just as Minato was walking up. He smiled at the older blond under his mask, thankful that his new jounin sensei was someone that he was at least familiar with. Minato had been a constant presence around the house, popping in often to see his former teacher. 

Kakashi had been fortunate for his extra years of training, often having both a legendary sannin  _ and  _ the yellow flash of the leaf to help him work through tough jutsus. 

Now, he just needed to meet the mission requirements for the jounin exam. Missions had slowed down since Jiraiya had taken over as his guardian, and Kakashi still needed quite a few more to qualify. He would just need to wait for his team to advance enough to take some A-ranks. 

Minato smiled warmly at him, but they didn't get a chance to really speak before the loud approach of his new teammates could be heard through the trees. 

Jiraiya had flat out refused to tell him who would be on his team, and somehow Kakashi wasn't surprised to see that it was Rin, dragging Obito along behind her. As soon as Rin's eyes lit up, he had to fight to suppress a groan. The girl still wasn't over some childhood crush she had on him, and it was exhausting to deal with. 

"Kakashi!" She shouted excitedly. "We've hardly seen you since you graduated!"

Obito watched the exchange quietly, a bit out of breath from Rin pulling him along.

Kakashi hummed an agreement. Between missions, traveling with Jiraiya, and training, he had hardly any time for friends or idle chit-chat. "Yeah. I've been busy."

Ignoring Rin's cooing over his outfit, Kakashi looked Obito over. The other boy had clearly grown as well, though he was still carrying around those awful orange goggles for some reason. Still, Kakashi's heart was happy to see him. Thanks to the long separation, Kakashi had learned a lot of things while traveling with Jiraiya. 

One of those things was that he didn't like girls. Not in the slightest. Rin could bat her eyes at him all day, but it would never matter. 

The other thing was far more disturbing, and had kept Kakashi up on many occasions. 

_ He liked Obito.  _ The boy was handsome and never gave up, and cared about his teammates over anything else… a quality that Kakashi had grown to admire in his travels with the toad sage. 

Obito frowned when he noticed Kakashi's blatant staring. "Got something to say,  _ Bakakashi _ ?" 

"Nope. Nothing at all,  _ dead last." _ He replied on cue, hiding a small smile under his mask. 

~

D-rank missions were over and done with faster than Kakashi had anticipated, thanks to Obito. Of course he hadn't complemented the boy or thanked him for his efforts. 

No. That wouldn't be as fun. Despite the two of them being like oil and water, Kakashi could tell that Obito was having as much fun as he was with it. Even when Rin or Sensei had to separate them, or even when Obito got in a lucky shot and gave Kakashi a nice bruise on his jaw, he still had  _ fun _ interacting with the older boy. 

Kakashi took the jounin exam on a crisp autumn day, and flew through the technical portion with Jiraiya cheering him on from the stands. Even though the jounin exams were much more private than the chunin exams, Kakashi found himself searching the crowd for a familiar mess of unruly black hair. 

~

_ Kakashi was trapped in a nightmare.  _ That was the only reasoning Kakashi could come up with as Rin was kidnapped. 

Obito was panicking, yelling and shouting about running in with a death wish… and Kakashi knew he needed to do something. 

"Obito! Calm down! We're going to get her back. But we  _ can't  _ just run in without a plan, okay?" Kakashi reasoned, hoping Obito would listen, and give him enough time to send a summons to alert Minato of the new developments. 

The older boy had always been infatuated with Rin. Obito had been seeking her approval for as long as Kakashi had known him, and he had no defense against the burning sensation that it placed over his heart. 

Of course, none of that mattered. It didn't matter if Kakashi was jealous of black eyes constantly tracking their teammate. Rin  _ was  _ their teammate, and Kakashi would die before leaving a comrade behind. Jiraiya and Minato had drilled that message into his brain for  _ years _ , and he would be damned if he failed them. 

The duo found the cave where Rin was being kept easily, though they hadn't managed to get through without the sacrifice of Kakashi's left eye. 

Kakashi was mesmerized when Obito awakened his sharingan, only barely managing to keep his head in the fight. Still, Rin was okay, and they were  _ so close  _ to escaping…

Until they weren't. 

~

Kakashi came to and immediately started to panic. Blood was caked to his shirt, trailing down from his head. Even with his skull throbbing and his vision barely there, Kakashi only had one thing on his mind. 

_ Obito.  _

Rin was with him, and Kakashi's heart stopped in his chest. Obito had been crushed by a rock, and all Kakashi could do was stare. 

_ No. It couldn't be.  _ Kakashi sobbed, aware that Rin was watching him as his knees buckled and he went down to the ground. 

Obito was starting to talk about removing his eye, and that was  _ not  _ going to happen. Kakashi couldn't leave anyone behind… especially not Obito. 

Kakashi's chakra was building before he could think rationally. For years he had been training with Jiraiya, and it was second nature to form the rasengan without any thought put into it. In the haze of emotions running through Kakashi's brain, he had managed the impossible. Kakashi's rasengan swirled with lightning chakra, a feat he hadn't managed in the two years he had been trying, and his hand was slamming into the rock before he could think. 

Somewhere, Rin was screaming, but all Kakashi could think about was the rock that was disintegrating beneath the force of the new rasengan. His chakra pulverized it, and Kakashi only stopped when dust was all that was left. 

Rin shoved past him as he dropped to the ground again, forcing her healing chakra into Obito as fast as she could. 

Kakashi's brain still wouldn't form rational thought. His one remaining eye watered as he watched Rin bring Obito back from the brink of death. 

A hand on his shoulder startled him, but all he could register through his blurry tears was a yellow blur moving towards Rin and Obito. 

"Minato-sensei!" Rin shouted in surprise, the last thing Kakashi heard before his head collided with the rocky floor of the cave once again. 

~

Kakashi woke up to the blinding white lights of a hospital room. The left side of his face and head was bandaged pretty heavily, but his right eye adjusted to the lights in the room after a few moments. 

Jiraiya was watching him from the chair by the bed, his eyes soft and his writing set off to the side. "Hey Kiddo. How are you feeling?" 

Kakashi looked around his room slowly, feeling out his body. "Sore." 

Jiraiya chuckled. "That's to be expected. Tsunade is a fantastic healer, but she  _ isn't  _ a miracle worker." 

"O-Obito?" Kakashi croaked out, his voice suddenly dry. 

Jiraiya sighed, shifting forward in his seat to hand Kakashi a cup of water. "He's going to be fine. Tsunade helped a lot. In fact, she managed to restore some sight in your left eye… not that you seem to care about that." 

Kakashi looked down at the cup in his hands, relieved to hear that Obito would be okay. "I… failed the mission." 

Jiraiya stood, leaning over to pat Kakashi on the shoulder. "Minato sent another team to the bridge when he went to find you. Besides, the important thing is that you're all  _ alive _ ." 

The words should have made him feel better, but all Kakashi could think about was what a  _ failure  _ his first mission as a jounin had been. Obito was in the hospital, Kakashi had nearly lost and eye, and the objective had to be completed by a completely different team. 

"Kid, stop it. I can already see you spiraling, and you need to  _ stop _ . It won't do anyone any good for you to think like that." Jiraiya pleaded, and Kakashi finally noticed the dark circles under the older man's eyes. The toad sannin was the closest thing he had left to family, and he had clearly been very worried. 

He nodded, trying his best to think of anything else. If not for his own sake… for Jiraiya's. "When can I go see Obito?" 

Jiraiya sighed heavily again, using one hand to rub the back of his neck. "Well… Tsunade mentioned that the kid shouldn't be taking any visitors until she clears him."

Kakashi's shoulders immediately fell in disappointment, but Jiraiya wasn't finished. 

"But I've never really been one to follow her directions." He continued with a shrug. "And I've got the scars to prove it. I'll take you over there now… if you'd like." 

Kakashi walked slowly down the hallway, his body tired from an apparent concussion and chakra exhaustion. Jiraiya kept a steady hand around his side, only holding him up when he truly looked like he needed help. Kakashi was ever thankful to have someone like him in his life. Someone who he could count on to be there no matter what. 

Kakashi stopped in front of the door, looking towards his guardian with a soft smile. "Did they tell you I used a lightning style rasengan?" 

Jiraiya chuckled heartily, sounding more like himself the longer Kakashi was awake. "I  _ did  _ hear something about that, yeah. You'll have to show me when you're back to training."

Kakashi didn't dodge when Jiraiya reached out to fondly ruffle his hair. His mentor and guardian was proud of him, and despite the part of his teenage brain that wanted to duck just to be a little shit… he knew that Jiraiya likely wanted the contact after the scare he must have had. 

Kakashi walked through the door first, feeling the older man following close behind. Obito was on the bed, nearly the entire right side of his body wrapped up in bandages. He looked…  _ ill.  _

Kakashi couldn't help it as tears slid down his face. His emotionless facade had been crushed in the same moment that Obito had been. The bandage over his left eye became soaked quickly, but he didn't care. Not when a single back eye opened, looking at him with a soft smile. 

"I thought  _ I  _ was supposed to be the crybaby." Obito rasped out, and immediately Kakashi felt a sob rip from his throat. 

"Fuck off, asshole." Kakashi mumbled when he caught his breath again, ignoring how watery his voice sounded, and Jiraiya's amused snort from the other side of the room. 

Obito huffed a laugh. "You can't say mean things to me when I was practically a  _ human pancake  _ earlier." 

Kakashi couldn't contain his laughter, even when his head was pounding, his legs were shaking from exhaustion, and all of his bandages would need to be changed again. 

_ Obito was alive, and that was all that mattered.  _


	3. Chapter 3

Kakashi took one last look in the mirror. An entire year after his first jounin mission, and he still wasn't used to the cloudy look of his left eye. His vision was fairly close to normal thanks to Tsunade, but he still couldn't look away from it. 

Some days, he imagined what it would look like if Obito had died, and Kakashi's left eye contained a sharingan. 

The thought brought indescribable pain. Even  _ thinking  _ about how he had almost lost Obito was enough to draw a tear from his weakened eye. Kakashi wiped his face quickly, banishing those thoughts with practiced efficiency. 

Obito was fine. In fact, nearly a year later, Obito had finally gotten permission from Tsunade to start training again. The therapy had been rough for the Uchiha, and he had predictably experienced low points throughout. Kakashi had done his best to be there for him the entire time, and they had grown quite close. 

So close, in fact, that Obito had asked Kakashi personally to help him train. 

The silver-haired teen walked through the house quietly, searching for his guardian. Predictably, Jiraiya was hunched over the newest edition of his book series. Kakashi's nose wrinkled. He had never been a fan. The romance in those books was a poor substitute for true human affection, something that Kakashi was proud to receive from his friends and adopted family. 

Jiraiya's head raised and Kakashi regretted walking over immediately. The smirk on the older man's face could only mean terrible things for his day. "Is your little  _ boyfriend  _ coming over to train again today?" 

Kakashi huffed, glaring at the man who he considered a father to him. "He is  _ not  _ my boyfriend, and it would be  _ nice  _ if you could try not to embarrass me this time." 

Jiraiya barked a laugh, throwing his head back in his amusement. Despite the older man's disgusting books and attitude, Kakashi couldn't help the surge of fondness that warmed his heart. 

A sharp knocking on the door cut Jiraiya's laughter off, and Kakashi raced to answer the door before Jiraiya could even consider getting up. 

Ignoring soft snickering behind him, Kakashi swung open the door and greeted Obito with a smile. The older boy had  _ finally  _ decided to give up the orange goggles after awakening his sharingan, only his headband impeding Kakashi's view of his full face. 

"Good morning, Kakashi." Obito greeted with a smile, stepping into the house like he had done many times over the last year. 

"Hey, Obito. Let's head to the backyard." Kakashi answered quickly, trying to herd the boy past his guardian without incident. 

"Good morning, Obito. Are you here to  _ woo  _ my godson some more?" Jiraiya crowed from his seat.

Kakashi felt mortification spread across his face, reaching out to grip Obito's arm and drag him to the backyard as quickly as possible. 

Thankfully, Jiraiya didn't say anything more, and Obito was choosing not to say anything… even if his face looked like an overly ripened tomato. 

"Let's just get to training." Kakashi mumbled, trying his best not to meet Obito's gaze. 

~

Obito was improving rapidly. Whether that was due to the sharingan, or to the determination Obito had, Kakashi wasn't sure. In either case, their taijutsu sparring was enough to distract them from Jiraiya's words.

Kakashi couldn't truly be mad at his guardian. Beneath the brash and inappropriate behavior, Jiraiya just wanted Kakashi to be happy. 

Whether Kakashi regretted confiding in the older man about his crush was another situation entirely. 

Even though he had only returned to training a couple weeks ago, Obito was fast. Kakashi had to use all of the speed he had built up to keep up with him. 

Eventually, Kakashi managed to take Obito down, pinning him to the ground. When Obito yielded, Kakashi rolled away gracefully. 

The duo sat on a bench by the gardens to catch their breath. Kakashi was drinking his water calmly, not even worrying about Obito seeing his face. 

Even though he had seen it many times by now, Obito still watched him carefully from the side. Kakashi turned, raising a single silver eyebrow at his friend. 

"What?" Kakashi asked quietly, mismatched eyes tracking the way the late morning sunlight brightened Obito's pale skin. 

Obito met his gaze, his eyes focused on Kakashi's left one. "I'm just glad you didn't end up losing your eye." 

Kakashi exhaled softly, looking away and moving a hand to trace the deep scar that made it almost all the way to his lip. Despite reassurances from his friends and Jiraiya, Kakashi was still a bit self-conscious about it. The scar marred what might have been a decent looking face. 

Obito's warmth covered his hand, pulling it away from his face carefully. Kakashi turned, meeting deep black eyes again with confusion. 

Obito's free hand reached up slowly, pausing to make sure Kakashi wouldn't flinch away. 

Of course he wouldn't. Kakashi trusted Obito with his life. 

Obito's careful fingers touched his scar, feeling the skin that no one other than Kakashi and Tsunade had been in contact with. 

Kakashi swallowed nervously. Having all of Obito's attention on him so intently was almost more than his poor love-stricken heart could handle. He was so distracted, that the gentle squeeze of Obito's other hand nearly startled him. He hadn't even noticed that they were still practically holding hands. 

"You know, this scar almost makes you even more handsome than you already were." Obito murmured. 

Kakashi huffed a silent laugh, his fingers tightening around Obito's. "Don't let Jiraiya hear you say things like  _ that.  _ He'll start talking about  _ wooing  _ again." He whispered timidly. 

Obito's hand paused where it had been drifting down towards his mouth, his eyes focusing on Kakashi's right instead. Kakashi nearly felt his breath hitch at the close up view. 

"And if I  _ was _ trying? Would it be working?" Obito asked softly, 

Pink spread across Obito's face as he waited for an answer, eyes drifting down to Kakashi's throat when he swallowed again anxiously.  _ "If  _ that's what you were up to… then I would have to say  _ yes.  _ It is working." Kakashi answered in a whisper, smiling softly as relief immediately spread over Obito's face. 

Kakashi made a split second decision, moving quickly. He leaned forward, catching Obito by surprise as he planted a chaste kiss to a soft cheek that had once been adorably chubby. 

While his teammate gawked at him with his jaw dropped, Kakashi stood, pulling Obito to his feet and heading back into the yard. 

"Come on,  _ dead last.  _ We have more training to do." Kakashi announced with a laugh. 

Kakashi watched as Obito readied himself across from him, a giant smile adorning his face. Kakashi would do his best to keep that smile there for the rest of their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit shorter than the rest, but it contained everything I wanted to add for the last little bit. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read/kudos/comment!   
> 💜💜💜

**Author's Note:**

> This story is separated into three parts. The second, which I have started, will take place a few years into the future, starting with the formation of Team Minato. The third will be a bit into Kakashi's teenage years. 
> 
> If any of my regulars are reading this, I apologize for my recent absence. I think i fried my poor Asexual brain while writing for Kinktober. 🤣
> 
> As always, let me know what you think! Comments make my day!


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